Mortal Kombat‘s Best Special Effect Returns

Remember the first Mortal Kombat movie? Of course you do. Before Hong Kong wire-work was fully embraced in the U.S., back when CGI could only create very basic shapes and before we knew that Paul W.S. Anderson was going to turn out to be such a boring director, it made us happy. As a live-action property, it has disappointed ever since (how do you replace Christopher Lambert with James Remar?), but now comes news that makes me think it’s too soon to declare a fatality…

That’s right – Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, whose over-enunciated delivery and stretchy facial expressions were the original movie’s true special effect, is returning to the role of Shang Tsung. Granted, it’s for the online Legacy series, which I quickly lost interest in, but season 2 will apparently center on an actual fighting tournament. What a concept.

Oh, and also this guy’s gonna be it…

Yes, Casper Van Dien is the new Johnny Cage. And damn, I need to watch that Tarzan movie again.